The present invention relates to a method for mounting a housing to an object such as a cylindrical object and device(s) related thereto, and more particularly to a method for mounting a housing to an object using a resilient member such as, for example, an O-ring that allows the housing to be easily and securely mounted and dismounted without the use of tools.
It is necessary and desirable in certain circumstances to have the capability to mount a housing onto an object, a cylindrical object without the use of tools. More particularly a mounting technique in which the housing can be easily mounted thereto and dismounted therefrom. An example of such a circumstance is attaching or securing an optical filter or filter housing to a lens assembly.
One technique, as illustrated in FIG. 1, involves mounting a housing 2 to an object 4 by means of an O-ring 6 that is disposed in an internal groove 8 formed or machined in the interior surface of the housing aperture that receives the object. In this arrangement, the object 4 is slid into the aperture in the housing 2 or conversely the housing 2 is slid over the object 4 so the object is received in the housing aperture. When the object is disposed within the housing, the O-ring 6 is compressed in the internal groove 8 and against both the housing 2 and the object 4. This compression of the O-ring 6 provides the friction and clamping forces that holds the housing 2 onto the object 4.
Although this technique has proved effective in certain situations, there are situations under which this technique exhibits or has a problem(s). In one case, and as shown in FIG. 2, a piece of grit, sand or dirt is trapped behind the O-ring 6 in the internal groove 8. This prevents the O-ring 6 from being compressed in the internal groove 8 so the object can pass, thus jamming the O-ring and/or object in the housing aperture. The presence of the grit, dirt or sand also can cause the O-rings to become damaged. In addition, such an application may result in the establishment of tighter size tolerances than that which are practical or achievable in the manufacturing process for the object 4.
Other techniques for mounting a housing to an object involve the use of screw or threaded connections, castellated slots, clamping devices, set screws, adhesives and/or adhesive tape. These other techniques also are disadvantageous in many situations because their use may not be desirable or practical. For example, the presence of grit or sand can cause the threaded connection to become damaged, the object may not have threads, clamping devices or systems may be too bulky or require the use of tools that are not readily available in the field, set screws may damage the object or become lost and the adhesive systems or methods may not hold under all environmental conditions (e.g., in rain or underwater) or leave an undesirable residue(s). In addition, some of these techniques may require tighter size tolerances than that which is practical or achievable for manufacturing of the object.
It thus would be desirable to provide a new method(s) and device(s) for mounting a housing to an object such as a cylindrically shaped object that does not involve or require special tools or adhesives as well as devices related thereto. It would be particularly desirable to provide such a device and method that would allow such mounting when there is grit or sand present or grit as well as low tolerances. Such devices preferably would be simple in construction and less costly than prior art devices and such methods would not require highly skilled users to utilize the device or the use of specialized tools if any tools at all.
The present invention features a device and method for mounting a housing to an object including cylindrical objects such as camera lenses, rifle scopes, telescopes, monoculars and binoculars. Using such a device and method, a housing can be securely and easily mounted to and dismounted from the object without the use of tools. Additionally, such a device and method are tolerant of manufacturing size variations and are useable in the presence of grit, snow, rain, ice and dirt.
In a first aspect of the invention, the object mounting device includes a housing and at least one resilient member. The housing includes an interior passage or cavity having an inner cross section larger than that of the object to which the housing is to be mounted onto. At one or more locations, preferably a plurality of locations and more preferably a multiplicity of locations, there is formed or provided in the housing a slot or slots, which slots are arranged concentrically about the housing. In more specific embodiments, the slots are equi-angularly spaced about the long axis and exterior surface of the housing. Each slot also extends from the housing exterior surface, through the housing and into the interior passage.
The resilient member is disposed about the housing exterior surface so a portion of the resilient member is positioned within each slot formed in the housing and also protrudes into the interior passage. More specifically, the portion(s) of the resilient member protruding into the interior passage protrude a predetermined distance beyond the inner surface of the interior passage so the protruding portion(s) contact and frictionally grab the object when it is inserted into the interior passage. In specific embodiments, the predetermined distance is about one-half (xc2xd) or less the thickness or cross-sectional thickness of the resilient member and more specifically a distance equal to about one-third (⅓) such a thickness.
In a specific embodiment, the plurality of concentrically formed slots are positioned in the housing so the protruding portions of the resilient member disposed therein contact and frictionally grab an end face of the object when it is inserted into the interior passage. In this way, the object mounting device can resist forces imposed along the long axis of the housing.
In a second aspect of the present invention, an object mounting device includes a housing configured with a plurality of concentric slots that are arranged to form a plurality or more of sets of slots and at least a plurality of resilient members. Each set of slots are longitudinally spaced from each other and each slot extends from the housing exterior surface, through the housing and into the interior passage.
Each resilient member is disposed about the housing exterior surface so portions of each resilient member are positioned within a set of slots formed in the housing and protrude into the interior passage. Thus, when there is a plurality of slots and resilient members, there is one resilient member for each set of one or more slots. The portions protruding into the interior passage protrude a predetermined distance beyond the inner surface of the interior passage. In specific embodiments, the predetermined distance is about one-half (xc2xd) or less the thickness or cross-sectional thickness of the resilient member and more specifically a distance equal to about one-third (⅓) such a thickness.
The sets of one or more slots also are preferably positioned on the housing so at least the protruding portions of one of the plurality of resilient members contact and frictionally grab the object when it is inserted into the interior passage. In a more specific embodiment, at least one of the sets of slots is positioned so the protruding portion(s) of the resilient member disposed therein contacts and frictionally grabs an end face of the object when it is inserted into the interior passage. In this way, the object mounting device can resist forces imposed along the long axis of the housing.
In a third aspect of the invention, the resilient member only extends around a portion of the exterior surface of the housing and the object mounting device further includes means to secure the resilient member in place and so portions thereof protrude into the housing interior passage. In one specific embodiment, the resilient member is a resilient band that is secured at either end to the housing by means of a clamp. In a second specific embodiment, the resilient member is a ring of a resilient material and the securing means comprises two outwardly extending structure about which are looped portions of the resilient ring. The clamps and outwardly extending structures are positioned on the housing so the resilient band or resilient ring are appropriately tensioned so the protruding portion(s) thereof frictionally grab and contact the object.
In more specific embodiments, the object mounting device includes means for localizing each resilient member so it remains disposed within the slots. In one specific embodiment, a groove is formed or provided in the exterior surface of the housing and the slots are formed within the groove. In this arrangement, the resilient member is disposed in the groove and the slots. In other specific embodiments, ridges, pins or blocks or positioned about the exterior surface of the housing proximate the slot(s) so as to prevent longitudinal movement of the resilient member. Also, the leading edge of the housing interior passage can configured so as to not present a sharp edge (i.e., be chamfered).
In use, the housing with the resilient member is pressed onto the object so a portion of the object is received within the housing interior passage. The portion(s) of the resilient members protruding into the interior passage are forced outwards by the object thereby letting the object to fully enter the interior passage. The resiliency or elastic tension of the resilient member causes the resilient member to maintain a constricting tension on the object so as to securely and frictionally grab the object and thus hold the housing securely to the object. Conversely, a user can easily remove or dismount the housing from the object by pulling the housing off the object.
Other aspects and embodiments of the invention are discussed below.